Cartoon/Postcard

[Andrew]

This is a little "postcard" I made to spread the word about modelminority.com. Hope you all enjoy it!

http://modelminority.com/images/postcards/kid.gif

[Hanuman]

That's awesome. One thing I hafta to add though is that at the end of this movie (or maybe it's the beggining of number 2) at least Miyagi defeats the evil white instrutor.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I remember that it was the second movie. That movie ends with the wimpy white boy from NJ, with 3 months of karate training, traveling to Okinawa, the home of Shotokan karate and beating a lifelong (Asian) practicioner. Never mind that the Okinawan dude is bigger, stronger, better trained and more conditioned. The rest of the village beats their stupid drums, roots for Danial-san, and the white boy triumphs.....

Well hey, at least in the third one, Miyaga beats ups the evil instructor and his hippie white friend, but wait, that movie was so crappy that no one saw it anyway, so that doesn't count. Damn...

[Shuriken]

Originally posted by Tawee@Nov 20 2002, 11:45 AM
That movie ends with the wimpy white boy from NJ, with 3 months of karate training, traveling to Okinawa, the home of Shotokan karate and beating a lifelong (Asian) practicioner. Never mind that the Okinawan dude is bigger, stronger, better trained and more conditioned. The rest of the village beats their stupid drums, roots for Danial-san, and the white boy triumphs.....

That's pretty typical of Asian-themed stories with white lead characters. In The Hunted, Christopher Lambert has practically no martial-arts training, but he still manages to defeat master assassin John Lone.

Movies are made by white people for white people... *sigh*

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by Shuriken@Nov 20 2002, 01:41 PM
Movies are made by white people for white people... *sigh*
yup that's why generally i'm sick of hollywood and stick to asian films.

[ism]

Or on the flip side, that regardless of the characters involved, the themes involve learning a foreign art and excelling at it, without assimillating. The moral that one can become accepted without losing true identity could apply to Asian Americans as well. Of course, I'm sure I am giving credence to the writers for genius that was unintended.

[SunWuKong]

moving to arts & entertainment...

[Andrew]

Originally posted by ism@Nov 20 2002, 08:43 PM
Or on the flip side, that regardless of the characters involved, the themes involve learning a foreign art and excelling at it, without assimillating. The moral that one can become accepted without losing true identity could apply to Asian Americans as well. Of course, I'm sure I am giving credence to the writers for genius that was unintended.
Well, that's the nub. Is "becom[ing] accepted without losing true identity" an avenue that is as open to Asian Americans as to white boys like Daniel?

[ism]

Hmm, perhaps "accepted" is too strong a word. That implies total acceptance, and I'm not sure Daniel experienced that outside the realm of physical combat. Perhaps the nose-tweaking ("wrong... HONK") in lieu of death at the end of KK2 is past the realm of Karate per se and is both from Japanese and American culture's (I have no clue about Japanese culture so if I am talking out of my ass please correct me), concept of honor and justice, and in that sense, more "respected" than "accepted," yet retaining identity.

So with Asian Americans, perhaps striving for acceptance is out of reach (according to the derived lesson from the movies, not my personal opinion)? Is respect the best any transplanted person can achieve?

Daniel is still a foreigner at the end of the movie (KK2), and according to KK3, the relationship with Kumiko ultimately failed (not neccessarily due to cultural difference, just plain incompatibility and long distance), and Daniel runs back to the comfort of a white girl. Of course KK3 was the worst one out of the bunch, and doesn't really deal with entering a different culture, so maybe we'll just conveniently exclude it from the discussion.

[Hanuman]

Originally posted by ism@Nov 20 2002, 03:43 PM
Or on the flip side, that regardless of the characters involved, the themes involve learning a foreign art and excelling at it, without assimillating.  The moral that one can become accepted without losing true identity could apply to Asian Americans as well.  Of course, I'm sure I am giving  credence to the writers for genius that was unintended.
Wait a minute, I'm not sure I follow the logic here. Daniel is a white kid who is automatically accepted in an Asian culture and cheered as the hero, while Mr.Miyagi, the asian teacher is completely ostrasized in America. Think about it, he has no friends in the US at all. It doesn't seem like he's accepted or assimilated....

I'm sure I'm reading into this way too much, but I'm on a roll. How about the fact that Miyagi leaves Okinawa so he doesn't have to fight Sato. He's never loved since (he implies that to her). So he's been celibate for all those years? Perpetuating the myth again that asian men are sexless. Chosen the young asian antagonist is sleazy, barbaric and condescending to women.

So we have 2 types of Asian men -
Sexless, or arrogant a-hole. Where have I heard this before?

Lets talk about Kumiko. She's not just a pretty Okinawan girl, no, she speaks perfect english, and swing dances. She's the girl next door with a different complexion! Everyone in Okinawa speaks perfect english (or hollywood pidgen). Damn this used to be my favorite movie. I think I just ruined it for me....

[ism]

Originally posted by Tawee@Nov 22 2002, 02:46 AM
Wait a minute, I'm not sure I follow the logic here.  Daniel is a white kid who is automatically accepted in an Asian culture and cheered as the hero, while Mr.Miyagi, the asian teacher is completely ostrasized in America.  Think about it, he has no friends in the US at all.  It doesn't seem like he's accepted or assimilated....
Miyagi in the first film is the stereotypical guru-master archetype. He uses his skills only when needed (to save Daniel during an ass-whupping at the hands of the Cobras). He is somewhat of a recluse, because of some pain in the past (later explained in the sequel). He teaches his art through seemingly unrelated tasks. I think that is more of a generic character template than a stereotype of an Asian male. He's a handyman/custodian and is not treated any differenty than a non-Asian in the same position, so I hardly call that ostracization. It seems his reclusiveness is his own doing. In KK3 he opens up a bonsai store; from immigrant custodian to self-employed businessman, isn't that the American Way?

Miyagi as (implied) celibate could be viewed as a dig on all Asian males, but I think his relationship with Yuki is a special case. Couldn't it be considered a testament to the strength of his love of one woman? If he didn't have this background, he sure would be a boring character and it wouldn't really explain why he was a recluse. It defines his character, not Asian males. I mean, there are Sato and Chozen, who are wildly different from Miyagi. The fact that there can be Japanese men with different beliefs and of different types is a good thing, isn't it?

The fact that the entire village is eventually anti-Chozen shows his behavior is not exactly acceptable. Obviously, Chozen is not the norm, and as the bad guy, is prone to "evil" overcharactertizations. And what about Sato? He's an honorable, reasonable guy who hits skins. There's your "normal" Asian guy, and he's not as interesting as the other two from a literary standpoint.

As for everyone speaking English, I think that's on the same level as explosions being heard in space in sci-fi movies. It's a convenience for the audience. Kumiko does swing dance, but she also introduces Daniel to the tea ceremony. There is a subtext that there are cultural boundaries that can be overcome with understanding and effort. I think it's a fairly realistic, if not oversimplified, statement.

This isn't neccessarily about Asians, but about different cultures. In the first movie, Daniel LaRusso is an expatriate New Jerseyan in California. His Italianness puts him out of place on the blond-haired covered beaches where surfing is the norm. Through training he wins the tournament and becomes accepted. Is Daniel a stereotypical New Jerseyan? Well, he's Italian, but we know not all New Jerseyans are like him. Why apply a different standard to Miyagi? Because there are so few Asians in film, they must all be "normal" characters?

edited for typos

[Andrew]

It just occurred to me that African Americans have to put up with this form of stereotype even more often than Asian Americans, in the form of the "Magical Negro." There really have been zillions of these -- from Don Cheadle in "The Family Man" to Bill Cobbs in "The Hudsucker Proxy" to Michael Clarke Duncan in "The Green Mile" to Whoopi Goldberg in "Ghost" to pretty much every role Morgan Freeman has ever played. It's rather rare to have such a vivid example of Asian Americans and African Americans being marginalized in the same, instantly recognizable way. Maybe this issue is a good tool for coalition-building.

[Andrew]

Originally posted by Andrew@Dec 22 2002, 11:56 AM
It just occurred to me that African Americans have to put up with this form of stereotype even more often than Asian Americans, in the form of the "Magical Negro." There really have been zillions of these -- from Don Cheadle in "The Family Man" to Bill Cobbs in "The Hudsucker Proxy" to Michael Clarke Duncan in "The Green Mile" to Whoopi Goldberg in "Ghost" to pretty much every role Morgan Freeman has ever played. It's rather rare to have such a vivid example of Asian Americans and African Americans being marginalized in the same, instantly recognizable way. Maybe this issue is a good tool for coalition-building.
Can we build up more of a list of "magical Asians" in the movies? I'd start, of course, with Miyagi in the Karate Kid series, but there must be more. Of course, there are plenty of portrayals of Asians as having exotic mystical connections in the movies, but I want to come up with a list that is restricted to the roles that are fully parallel with the "magical Negro" role -- the helpmate to the white protagonist whose ability to channel the supernatural serves to move the plot along and help the white character achieve his or her own agenda. Keye Luke in Woody Allen's "Alice" is another example.